When Words Fail
by brainthief
Summary: Five year old Lucy wants a bedtime story. Blaise has come prepared. He's brought one of the new books she's so fond of: The Adventures of Dean and Seamus.


**Disclaimer:** J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter. I am not her.

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Blaise Zabini took the stairs two at a time. He had just finished saying goodbye to Percy and Audrey Weasley and watched them Apparate away from their residence. Now he needed to present himself to the Queen of the House.

"Hey Lucy," he said to the five year old blonde girl sitting up in bed. She was almost buried between blankets, pillows and plushy animals.

"Uncle Blaise!" she said with a big smile holding her arms wide. "Give us a kiss."

Yup, majestic plural, definitely Queen of the House, thought Blaise. It was her favourite greeting since it made everybody smile, though he didn't think she knew exactly why. Dutifully he kissed her on both cheeks.

"Your beard is scratchy," she said with a giggle.

"Strange," he said, posing as if thinking deeply. "It doesn't seem scratchy to me at all."

Lucy poked out her tongue at him at his teasing. Blaise decided it would be prudent to distract her. Luckily he had the means on him.

"Look what I brought," he said, handing her a wrapped package. He watched fondly as Lucy tore at the wrapping paper.

This afternoon at work Audrey had asked both him and Terry Boot if one of them could babysit her little girl. She and Percy were going out, but their sitter had cancelled unexpectedly. Their other daughter, Molly, would stay with a friend, but Lucy would be home all alone and they were up in arms about it.

Since Terry, Audrey and he had been working together for a few years and got along well this wasn't the first time he was called in as emergency babysitter. They all knew Blaise adored children and from the first time he met Lucy they had hit it off.

Still, like a good former Slytherin he had milked the situation for all it was worth. Terry was terribly frightened of being alone with children so Blaise had faked hemming and hawing until Terry had resorted to bribery.

Hence him leaning over with a gift for Lucy. Since she'd helped him win a nice bottle of Ogden's Finest it was only fair.

"The new Dean and Seamus," Lucy said, clapping her hands in excitement when she finally unwrapped the book. "They're my favourite!"

"I know," he said, coming over to tousle her hair. "The shopkeeper recommended stories about Gilderoy Lockhart" - she grimaced - "or Harry Potter" - she scowled - "but I said that my favourite girl only wanted the newest Adventures of Dean and Seamus." That got him a smile.

She nodded briefly, as if to convey that it should have been obvious before opening the book and leafing through it. At times, she paused to study one of the well-drawn pictures. She looked awed, thrilled and very, very happy.

Blaise thought the two former Gryffindors had done exceptionally well for themselves. Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan had gone in business together writing children's books, with Dean drawing the illustrations. The books revolved around two young boys imaginatively named Dean and Seamus and were all the rage. In private, Blaise wondered if they'd gotten the idea from their second year defence teacher or from having a famous roommate for six years.

"Will you read it to me?" Lucy said, breaking his train of thought.

"Of course." He smiled indulgently at her. "I had expected nothing less."

He sat down on the mattress next to her, close enough so she could wrap her little fingers around his arm and still sit comfortably. He opened the book and was about to start reading when she interrupted him.

"Can I borrow your glasses?"

He frowned. "Why do you want to borrow mine? Aren't yours working properly?"

She shrugged. "Yours smell better."

He blinked and before he knew it she had already taken them from his face. He spluttered but couldn't help himself smiling as she put the too-big glasses on her nose. She graciously offered her own to him. He thanked her but put them on the bedside table.

Lucy looked attentively at him, eyes shining and gestured imperiously for him to proceed. He rolled his eyes. Luckily he could read well enough without his glasses, otherwise someone was about to be disappointed.

He cleared his throat. "Once upon a time there were two young boys called Dean and Seamus," he began only to be interrupted.

Lucy squealed. "It always begins the same," she confided in him.

Blaise gave her a fond look. "I know sweetheart, but if you are going to keep interrupting me we won't make it to the end of the story tonight."

Lucy looked horrified and mimed zipping her lips shut. Blaise chuckled.

_Once upon a time there were two young boys called Dean and Seamus. Dean was dark skinned with short dark hair. Seamus was pale with sandy blonde hair and dark green eyes. Both boys were having a picnic with their mothers in a park in Muggle London._

"_Look what I've got," said Dean, opening the basket and taking out a small purple box. He held it out to Seamus, who gasped and grinned. "A Chocolate Frog," he said. "Sweet!"_

"_I bought it in Diagon Alley," said Dean proudly. "Did you know they move like real frogs? They jump and everything!" His voice was filled with wonder._

_Dean had been introduced to the magical world only weeks before and had met his new friend Seamus while shopping for school supplies. Both would be going to Hogwarts in September._

"_I know," said Seamus, acting as if it was the most normal thing in the world. His eyes never left the frog though and his eyes were shining._

"_Mum said I should wait until we had lunch before I was allowed to eat it," said Dean mournfully._

"Daddy always makes me eat yucky vegetables too before I can have sweets," Lucy said sympathetically. Blaise patted her on the head in consolation but couldn't keep the smile off his face at her indignant expression.

Suddenly Lucy realised she had interrupted Blaise and with wide eyes she mimed zipping her lips shut again, this time miming locking them afterwards. She looked pleadingly up at him and he hadn't the heart to tease her by pausing now.

_Both boys looked over their shoulders at their mothers, who were lost in conversation. Seamus smile grew._

"_Well she's not looking right now, so how about we take a bite? Just a small one."_

_Dean looked nervous but the chocolate looked so inviting that he just couldn't help himself._

"_Okay," he said, giving in. Carefully, he unwrapped the package and took out the prize. He almost brought it to his mouth before he hesitated._

_He held it out to Seamus. "Here, you're my friend. You can have the first bite."_

_Seamus looked at him with awe. Both boys quickly looked over their shoulder again, to make sure that their mothers were still busy with their grown up talk. Luckily they were._

_Seamus was almost drooling in anticipation. He looked at Dean's hand and blinked. It was empty._

"_Where's the frog?" asked Seamus._

"_What?" said Dean, whipping his head around and looking at his own hand. "Where's the frog?" he repeated in surprise. They looked in the purple box. It was empty too._

"_It's not here," Dean said._

_Both looked through their stuff. It wasn't in the basket or on the blanket either._

_Suddenly Seamus stiffened. He elbowed Dean and pointed to the grass yards away. Surely enough, the Chocolate Frog was hopping for freedom._

"_Oh no!" said Dean. "It's getting away!"_

By now, Lucy was riveted. Her blanket was drawn up to her chin, one hand was squeezing his arm, and the other arm was strangling a plushy rabbit. She was gnawing on one of its long ears.

Blaise thought she looked wonderfully innocent, fully absorbed by the problem of runaway chocolate. That is, until he paused for too long and she scowled at him for it.

"_Worse," said Seamus," There's muggles everywhere. They're not allowed to see Chocolate Frogs."_

_Dean paled. He'd forgotten that in his wonder over knowing that magic was real. He looked around. His friend was right. There were more families taking advantage of the good weather. The frog was hopping right at two boys playing football. What if they saw it?_

"_Come on," he said, dragging Seamus to his feet. "We've got to catch it before anyone sees."_

_Both boys ran after the frog. It was headed for the goal the others were using._

_When he was close, Dean dove, hands outstretched. At the last moment the frog hopped to the side. One of the teenagers chose that moment to try to score and the ball hit Dean in the side._

"_Aww," said the teenager, "that would've been a goal. Nice save though."_

_The other footballer joined the first. "Did you guys want to join us?"_

_Dean really wanted to say yes. He loved football. But from the corner of his eye he could see the frog getting away. It was headed for some bushes now. They really needed to catch it._

"_Sorry," he said, already running. "Maybe later."_

_Seamus hadn't been held up so he was closer. He dropped to the ground to see if he could see the frog under the thick leaves. Nothing. Both boys spread out, but they had lost sight of it._

"_What do we do now?" asked Dean._

_Seamus looked around, searching for an idea. "How about we climb a tree," he said after a moment. "In the stories the hero always climbs a tree when they're lost. It helps you see better, or something."_

_Dean didn't have a better idea, so he watched as Seamus slowly used the thick branches to lift himself up. It was slow going. After a moment he had trouble seeing his friend because there were so many leaves in the way._

"_It's no use," said Seamus from high above a moment later. "I can't see anything with these stupid sticks and leaves blocking my vision." A moment later he climbed down again._

"_I don't understand," he said, bewildered. "That always works in stories."_

_Dean shrugged, but their attention was drawn to a yapping dog. It was a small one, and seemed to be chasing something. Something small and brown. Something that jumped._

The tension had been building in the little girl. She'd practically consumed every extremity her plushy animal had. Now, she could no longer hold in her excitement.

"It's the frog, it's the frog," she said, bouncing up and down on the soft mattress and loudly encouraging the storybook boys to run after it.

"_There it is!" both said at the same time, before taking off again. They followed the dog chasing the frog, almost bowling over an elderly lady with a cane._

_Held up apologising, they weren't in time to catch it before it made a bid for freedom by jumping in the large fountain in the centre of the park. Now that it could no longer see its prey, the dog lost interest._

_Both boys looked at each other and their shoulders slumped. The frog would be all wet now._

_Cautiously, they approached the fountain. The frog was swimming in circles, leaving behind a trail of slightly brown water. It was melting!_

_Helplessly, they watched as it slowly grew smaller and smaller. If they weren't quick there would be nothing left!_

_Dean swallowed, and then swung his leg over the raised edge. The water was very cold, but it was a warm day so he didn't mind too much. It was just so wet! His nose wrinkled. Dean didn't like wet._

_The frog was swimming away from Dean, but Seamus had run around the fountain and was waiting for it on the other side. As it reached the edge Seamus wrapped it in both his hands. It was safely caught._

_Both boys breathed a sigh in relief. A quick glance showed that nobody was nearby to have seen their misadventure._

_They were both panting from all the running and had a few scratches from reaching into the bush and climbing the tree. Tired, they returned to their mothers._

"_Where have you two rascals been?" asked Seamus' mother before she rolled her eyes when she saw Dean's wet clothes._

"_Boys!" said Dean's mother with a shake of her head as she used the edge of the blanket to dry his hair. "I thought you didn't like to swim?"_

"_The Chocolate Frog ran off and was swimming in the fountain," said Dean with a shrug. "We needed to catch it."_

_Both mothers looked at each other, disbelief clear on their faces._

"_I'm quite sure Chocolate Frogs can't swim, dear, but I'm glad you two had fun," said Dean's mother before the corner of her mouth turned up. "Though next time may I suggest wearing a bathing suit?"_

"_You said there was no such thing as magic either!" said Dean. "We couldn't let anybody see it." He stomped his foot spreading water droplets all around. "And I still hate swimming."_

_While both mothers were busy fussing over Dean, Seamus put the frog back in its box. It looked a little smaller, but he could have sworn it was grinning. It had clearly had a fun afternoon._

_Seamus grinned right back at it. He decided to convince Dean to keep it. If they ate the frog they couldn't have adventures together any more. He would miss this frog._

_No, they would keep it and together they would live happily ever after._

Lucy sighed contentedly at the recognisable fairytale ending. Her eyes had been drooping for a while but she had fought to stay awake so she'd get to hear the end of the story. Now, she was losing that battle and her eyes drifted shut.

He slowly got up, careful not to disturb her.

"Thank you, Uncle Blaise," she mumbled sleepily. He thought she'd nodded off, but she had one more thing to say. "I wanna be a Chocolate Frog when I grow up."

Moments later she was asleep, leaving Blaise gaping.

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A/N: Written for the Points and Prompts Competition using all twelve prompts.

Thank you for your thoughts.  
-brainthief


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